Civil rights
Media and commentary related to our work protecting and advancing civil rights. This includes police accountability, justice in youth detention, asylum seeker rights, discrimination, access to justice and Raise the Age.
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ASIC v TAL Federal Court decision highlights poor practices of insurers in relation to mental health
The Chief Justice of the Federal Court has strongly criticised the way insurance company TAL handled the legitimate income protection claim of a woman suffering from cancer. TAL initially paid the woman’s claim, but then cancelled her policy after obtaining her medical records and finding that she had visited a psychologist. They argued that this…
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Detained asylum seeker given bucket to shower, after dispute with authorities over medical treatment
Gudrun Dewey is leading the Public Interest Advocacy Centre’s Asylum Seeker Health Rights Project, and said the government owed a clear duty of care to the people it detained. “We know from our case work that many people in Australian immigration detention are not getting timely access to the medical care they desperately need,” Ms…
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Mental health insurance problems to be exacerbated by COVID-19
Systemic problems with the way life and income protection insurers offer policies and assess the claims of people with mental health conditions needs to be fixed in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, advocates claim. The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC), a community legal service that specialises in policy advocacy, says people with mental health…
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‘Humiliating’: lawyers decry Australia’s handcuffing of asylum seekers for court visits
‘The continued handcuffing of asylum seekers to attend minor civil court matters is “humiliating” and creates a barrier to accessing justice, lawyers say.’ ‘The use of restraints on those in immigration detention has come under renewed scrutiny in recent weeks, after a landmark test case launched by the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (Piac) argued that…
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ABC RN Breakfast: Refugee brings landmark test case against handcuffing by Australian Border Force
‘The handcuffing of refugees and asylum seekers for medical appointments should be illegal, according to the Public Interest Advocacy Centre.’ ‘Their client Yasir, who has a history of severe torture and childhood abuse, says restraints re-traumatise him and makes it impossible for him to seek treatment.’ ‘The practice has also been criticised by doctors, the…
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New data-sharing scheme a threat to privacy and rights
We have called for greater transparency and oversight in the way the Australian Government shares public sector data, ahead of the introduction of a proposed new data-sharing scheme. Under the draft Data Availability and Transparency Bill, the Australian Government is proposing to allow public sector data, including personal information, to be shared with entities including…
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Jonathon Hunyor interview on ABC RN Breakfast re use of force in immigration detention
PIAC · 26-11-20 – RN Breakfast – Jonathan Hunyor
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Handcuffed asylum seekers ‘paraded like criminals’ in Australian hospitals, doctors say
Doctors say handcuffed asylum seeker patients are being “paraded like criminals” through hospital wards and humiliated as they sit shackled in doctors’ waiting rooms. The practice of handcuffing asylum seekers while escorting them to external medical appointments is now the subject of a federal court test case, launched by the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC), which…
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Test case challenges use of handcuffs in transferring asylum seekers to medical care (Yasir’s story)
Introduction by Croakey: A landmark test case is highlighting the excessive use of force in Australian immigration detention centres, according to the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC). Yasir*, an asylum seeker with a history of severe torture and childhood abuse, has been unable to access health care when the detention centre staff use handcuffs to transport him…
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Landmark legal case challenges the ‘inhumane’ use of handcuffs on asylum seekers
‘The use of handcuffs to restrain asylum seekers who are seeking access to medical appointments will be challenged before the federal court in a landmark legal case.’ ‘The case has been lodged by the Public Interest Advocacy Centre on behalf of asylum seeker Yasir*, who fled to Australia in 2013 to avoid persecution…’